Saints Scribbles: Dubuque Rally Falls Short Against Phantoms

By Jack Milewski, 12/30/18, 6:30PM CST

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Youngstown Four Goal Second Propels Them To Victory

Youngstown scored four goals in the second period and held on for a 4-3 victory over Dubuque on Sunday afternoon. In the lone USHL game of the day, the Fighting Saints fell just short despite a feverish effort to close the gap in the final period. The loss moved Dubuque to 12-11-3-3 on the season.

-The game was Dubuque’s ninth one goal game in a row. The Fighting Saints have continued to play their opponents close during the month of December. In the nine games, Dubuque is 3-3-2-1.

-Brett Murray, Jack Malone, Connor MacEachern and Dalton Messina all scored in the second period for Youngstown as they busted things open with three goals in the final nine minutes of the middle period. Murray pushed his point streak to nine games with his deflection behind Thiessen. Messina’s goal, also a deflection down low, was the game winner.

-Willie Knierim produced one of his best games in the last month. Knierim scored a goal and had an assist. It was the first time Knierim has produced points in the last nine games for Dubuque as he was a force during the afternoon contest.

-Aaron Randazzo came in to the game to begin the third period to spell Matthew Thiessen. Randazzo hasn’t seen much action recently for Dubuque, but he kept the score at four for Youngstown, doing his job in the relief appearance. Randazzo made four stops in the third period.

-Youngstown has been successful against Dubuque this season as they closed out the season series winning three of four. The Phantoms beat Dubuque 4-3 both times they faced the Fighting Saints at Mystique Community Ice Center.

-J.D. Greenway also secured a two point game with a goal and an assist in the Saints loss. Greenway scored the opener, his fourth of the season on a sweet feed from Knierim. Greenway has produced 17 points this season for Dubuque, making him the team’s top scoring defenseman.

-The Fighting Saints showed good fight in the third period as they tried to equalize. Derek Contessa scored his eighth goal of the year from an impossible angle along the goal line. Dubuque continued to push the pace and outshot Youngstown 12-4 over the final 20.

-With the win, the Phantoms have to .500 on the season at 12-12-0-3. The victory also gave them two of three wins on their Iowa road trip. All three games for Youngstown were decided by one goal as they won 3-2 against Cedar Rapids, lost 4-3 to Waterloo and then won 4-3 over Dubuque.

-Dubuque will be back on the ice Friday against the Des Moines Buccaneers. Des Moines currently sits second in the west, four points behind Tri-City.